Every day, he did not know whether he would see the sun of tomorrow, life and death were unpredictable, he did not know how long he could live, life was originally a darkness, he survived in the dimness of sickness, unable to see any light, nor any glimpse of hope.
Death, he could face calmly, but as for life?
He needed to think about that carefully.
But... why fret unnecessarily?
Just wait and see, if he could indeed get better, if he really could get better...
Ha, there’s no use in worrying about these things before getting better, it’s better to just sleep.
Hopefully, when he wakes up tomorrow, he can still cling to life for another day...
After daybreak, Yixuan felt an uncomfortable pressure.
He took a laborious breath and then looked toward Fifth Brother’s thigh pressing down on his stomach. He sighed while holding his forehead, not knowing where Fifth Brother had picked up this habit of needing to straddle something to sleep at night.
But Fifth Brother would at most pick on him, the youngest; as for the elder brothers... even if it were for Fifth Brother to ride, Fifth Brother would not dare.
Pushing away Fifth Brother’s leg, he sat up, then put on his clothes and rubbed his eyes as he walked outside.
When he opened the door, a blast of autumn wind hit him. The weather had cooled down quickly recently, they say that with each autumn rain comes cold; it was much cooler compared to the recent heat wave. Suddenly, he looked ahead.
He saw Big Brother leaning on a young woman... the two of them motionless.
Yixuan slowly walked over.
He found that Baobao was awake, shivering and gripping her own arms, seemingly chilled to the bone by the wind.
She put her index finger to her lips, then forced an uneasy smile on her pale face, "Yixuan, can you get me that coat? It’s really too cold."
"Why didn’t Baobao go back inside?" He motioned as if to pat Big Brother’s shoulder to wake him up as he was asleep holding Baobao.
"Don’t..." She seemed too anxious. Pausing, she then whispered softly, "Zhi Chen hasn’t been sleeping well these days, let him rest a bit longer."
Yixuan gave her a deep look and subsequently went back to his room to fetch a blanket, with which he gently wrapped the two of them.
Afterward, he slowly reached out a hand to help her tuck the strands of hair that had fallen onto her cheek behind her ear.
When his fingertips touched her cheek, he found them ice-cold.
"Your face is too cold."
He withdrew his hand, rubbing his palms together briskly, and after warming them up, he gently cradled her face to warm up her icy cheeks with his warm palms.
Dong Huiying was somewhat stunned.
Yixuan noticed that she seemed surprised, perhaps uncomfortable, yet he did not remove his hands until her cheeks gradually warmed up, and then he stood up straight.
"I’m going to prepare today’s breakfast," he said and then turned to go to the kitchen.
Dong Huiying blinked gently, feeling that ever since she had returned from Qingfeng Mountain, Yixuan had changed a lot...
Meanwhile, Zhi Chen moved slightly.
"Mm..." His voice was a bit groggy and hoarse, "Indeed, I can only sleep when you are by my side." After saying this, he chuckled softly.
"I never thought I would depend on anyone in my lifetime."
Yet, he was dependent on her.
A bitter feeling suddenly welled up in Dong Huiying’s heart.
This man, it seemed, lived a life that was too exhausting...
Dong Huiying returned to the east room, and Zhi Chen went to fetch washing water for her. Suddenly catching sight of a patch of black on the collar of his clothing, he recalled the ink used for dyeing hair and also the dew from last night, and he sighed softly.